Biography

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Frederick William Poate was born of missionary parents in Japan in 1882. In 1893, the
family moved to the United States and settled in Allegany County, N.Y. He entered
Cornell University in 1900, and after spending a year in Shanghai working for his uncle
at Mackenzie & Co., graduated in 1905. While at Cornell, he excelled at track. He
returned to China to work as Chief Engineer at Mackenzie Co.'s Tientsin branch. During
World War I, he went to France and commanded armored cars attached to the First Cavalry
Division at Samer. After the war, he returned to China, becoming head of Mackenzie &
Co. when his uncle retired. He served on the Municipal Council and the Shanghai
Volunteer Corps, and was chairman of the tramways, Lester Hospital, and the Union
Church. He was also active in Rotary. After Pearl Harbor, he and his wife were interned
in Yangchow for four years. He then returned to England, continuing his interest in
political, economic, and military affairs, as well as long distance running. He was also
active in the Old Comrades Association of the Machine Gun Corps. He died in 1971.

Belle Marsh Poate was born in Truro, Nova Scotia in 1847. She went to Japan in 1876
under the auspices of the Presbyterian Board. For three years, she worked in the
Yokohama area. In 1879, she married Thomas Pratt Poate and transferred to the American
Baptist Missionary Union. They had five children: Frederick William, Ernest Marsh, Lucy
Marsh ("Daisy"), Clara Elizabeth ("Bessie"), and Edith. The family remained in Japan
until 1892, when they returned to the United States. Belle Marsh Poate died in 1896.

Clara Elizabeth Fleming was born in Morioka, Japan in 1888; married John Lewis Fleming;
had two children; and died in 1985. She wrote children's books and stories about her
childhood experiences in Japan.

Lucy Marsh Poate was born in Portsmouth, England in 1886; married Howard L. Stebbins;
had three children, Richard, Elizabeth, and Marabelle; and died in Boston in 1958.